On February 8, the first C-390 Millennium of the Hungarian Air Force successfully completed its maiden flight in Gavião Peixoto. Embraer Defense & Security team flew the aircraft for approximately four hours, carrying out a complete assessment of the aircraft, which will now undergo a test campaign ahead of the entry into service with the Hungarian Air Force.
In November 2020, the Hungarian government signed a contract with Embraer to acquire two C-390s. The Hungarian Defence Forces’ aircraft will be the first in the world to have an intensive care unit in its configuration, an essential resource for carrying out humanitarian missions.
Hungary is the third country to have chosen the C-390, after Brazil and Portugal. The Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic and South Korea have also selected the multi-mission aircraft. The C-390 is redefining military air transport and challenging the logic behind current and future generation platforms, offering multi-mission capability, reliability and interoperability built by design.
The C-390 can carry more payload (26 tonnes) compared to other medium-sized military transport aircraft and flies faster (470 knots) and farther, being able to carry out a wide range of missions, such as transporting and launching cargo and troops, aeromedical evacuation, search and rescue, firefighting and humanitarian missions, even operating on unpaved runways, on surfaces such as compacted earth and gravel. The aircraft configured for aerial refuelling, with the designation KC-390, has already proven its capacity both as a tanker and as a receiver, in this case receiving fuel from another KC-390 using pods installed under the wings.
